Chetan Bhagat’s – “Five Point Some”: Book Review

Chetan Bhagat who is a top-notch novelist in modern India penned down eight novels so far and all of them have hit the market with outstanding success. The most appreciable thing with Chetan is – he focuses on youth related issues and also inculcates them to develop their reading habits. Chetan published his debut novel – ‘Five Point Someone’ in the year 2004 which was applauded by all Newspapers and Periodicals. The novel revolves around three protagonists namely – Ryan Oberoi, Alok Gupta and Hari Kumar who met on joining IIT Delhi. The novel is all about these three said characters friendship, their study, ambition, their drinking habit, mischievous acts, parental pressure, love and sex. Thousands of aspirants dream to enter into the prestigious IITs hoping that their lives would be settled with first-rate jobs. But on the contrary, Chetan Bhagat has made mild comments about the existing education system of IITs in this novel. The readers might be wondered about the title of the novel – why it has been named likewise. Actually, IITs use a unique method of scoring students called GPA. If a student does not study well and whose performance is considered poor, he/she is viewed as a bottom performer and will be referred to 5 pointer as his/her GPA is 5 points and something.

All the three friends – Hari, Alok and Ryan became good friends after a ragging session by their seniors. They have least bothered about their percentage and grading. They get bored with study, assignments, project works etc. The ups and downs of their life is precisely portrayed by the author. Meanwhile, Hari falls in love with Neha, the daughter of Prof. Cherian. He is ready to do any sort of thing for the sake of Neha. Many a times he is warned by Prof. Cherian but Hari pays deaf hear to all those restraints and eventually suffers a lot in the hands of Cherian. Ryan prioritizes his friends more than his parents. Alok joins his hands with his friends and starts involving in impish deeds. Thorough out the novel all the three protagonists constantly struggle to beat the existing education system at IITs. They strongly feel that the creativity and intellectuality of a student is suppressed. Bhagat appeals and strongly believes that the learners and teachers ought to adopt an innovative technique that will suit the psyche of the new generation. The conventional education system must be shunned and the teachers must motivate and encourage the originality and creativity of the student community. Interestingly, at the end of the story, the trio prove their talent by working hard and acquire placement in reputable companies in spite of having gone through copious hurdles during their study.